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Coyotes-Wolves-Cougars.blogspot.com

Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars/ mountain lions,bobcats, wolverines, lynx, foxes, fishers and martens are the suite of carnivores that originally inhabited North America after the Pleistocene extinctions.
This site invites research, commentary, point/counterpoint on that suite of native animals (predator and prey) that inhabited The Americas circa 1500-at the initial point of European exploration and subsequent colonization.
Landscape ecology, journal accounts of explorers and frontiersmen, genetic evaluations of museum animals, peer reviewed 20th and 21st century research on various aspects of our "Wild America" as well as subjective commentary from expert and layman alike. All of the above being revealed and discussed with the underlying goal of one day seeing our Continent rewilded.....Where big enough swaths of open space exist with connective corridors to other large forest, meadow, mountain, valley, prairie, desert and chaparral wildlands.....Thereby enabling all of our historic fauna, including man, to live in a sustainable and healthy environment. - Blogger Rick

By comparing camera trapping findings with genetic samples taken from feces, biologists have determined that the density of ocelots on Barro Colorado Island in Panama is the highest yet recorded. There are over three ocelots per every two square kilometers (0.77 square miles) on the island, according to a new study published in mongabay.com open-access journal ofTropical Conservation Science.

"Even our density estimates based on minimum number known alive...are 1.6 times greater than the densest ocelot population previously reported from the northwestern Amazon of Peru," the researchers write.

Overall, the study estimated a density between 1.59-1.74 ocelots per square kilometer. Meaning, the island—which covers 15.43 square kilometers-could house between 24 and 27 ocelots. One of the most studied forests in the tropics, Barro Colorado Island is a nature reserve that was created when the Chagres River was damned in 1914.

But, why so many ocelots on the island? The scientists put forward a number of theories: ocelot density might be so high due to high prey availability, the difficult of moving off the island (which involves swimming across a man made lake), and the high level of protection on the island from poaching.

Ocelot using latrine on Barro Colorado Island caught on camera traps. In order to collect ocelot feces, the researchers had to find and then regularly visit the cats' communal latrines. Photo by: Rodgers et al.

But it could also be due to a general lack of top predators on the island, such as as jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor). Known as mesopredator release, this process means that when top predators largely disappear, medium-sized predators, i.e. the ocelots, see a sudden boost in populations, due to decreased competition and less harassment from the top felines.

Jaguars and pumas occasionally visit the island by swimming across the lake, but appear to stay on the island only temporarily. It's likely the island is too small for these big cats.

Although the study recorded the remarkable ocelot density on the island, it was actually conducted to test how reliable estimating density is from genetic information collected from feces compared to camera trapping. The biologists found that both methods produce similar results when using the modeling software, DENSITY, a finding that makes collecting scat a possible viable option for estimating densities of other animals.

"We think that our ability to estimate similar densities from noninvasive genetics and camera trapping...lends further support to noninvasive genetics as a viable method," the authors write.

Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), a medium-sized cat, ranges from Argentina north to the very southern U.S., including sightings in Texas and Arizona. The cat is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List, yet remains imperiled by habitat destruction, the pet trade, and killing—often illegally—for its coat or as revenge for attacks on poultry.

Two Massachusetts Eastern Coyotes at their den site

Eastern Wolf in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Aldo Leopold--3 quotes from his SAN COUNTY ALMANAC

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

Aldo Leopold

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Aldo Leopold

''To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."

Wildlife Rendezvous

Like so many conscientious hunters and anglers come to realize, good habitat with our full suite of predators and prey make for healthy and productive living............Teddy Roosevelt depicted at a "WILDLIFE RENDEZVOUS"

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This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of my various thoughts and opinions, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today. All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Rick Meril and WWW.COYOTES-WOLVES-COUGARS.COM make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.